Trump: 'We are losing' Afghanistan war

Trump has yet to settle on a new strategy for achieving the goal he inherited: getting the Afghan Government to a point where it can defend itself. Photo / AP

US President Donald Trump has become increasingly frustrated by the situation in Afghanistan and has recently floated a change in command as he struggles to settle on a new strategy after years of war.

NBC News first reported that Trump fumed during a meeting last month over the lack of progress. The network said he also proposed firing Army General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, during the heated Situation Room exchange.

Trump criticised his military advisers around the table. At one point the President directed his frustration at Mattis, saying Trump had given the military authority months ago to make advances in Afghanistan and yet the US was losing ground, NBC said.

"We aren't winning," Trump complained. "We are losing." The US has been fighting in Afghanistan for nearly 16 years, but Trump has yet to settle on a new strategy for achieving the goal he inherited: getting the Afghan Government to a point where it can defend itself.

Yesterday, two American troops were killed when a convoy they were in came under attack. Mattis said last month that the Administration was "close" to announcing its new strategy but was still sorting out "the big ideas".

Trump lamented that China is making money from Afghanistan's estimated US$1 trillion in rare minerals, officials told NBC. China purchased mineral rights in Afghanistan a decade ago.

The meeting took place the day after Trump took the unusual step of having lunch with a group of service members who'd spent time on the ground in Afghanistan to try to brainstorm new ideas for fighting the war. According to NBC, Trump brought up the lunchtime conversation at the meeting with senior aides and advisers, comparing the soldiers' on-the-ground perspective to waiters who know the ins-and-outs of the restaurants where they work. Trump yesterday signed into law a bill that imposes new sanctions on Russia, but he immediately expressed doubts about its constitutionality and criticised Congress for giving itself greater powers to prevent him from rolling back penalties aimed at Moscow.

Trump's reluctant signing of the legislation came nearly a week after it was approved by overwhelming, bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate that assured any veto could be overridden. He called the bill - which imposes new penalties on Russia, Iran and North Korea - "seriously flawed," primarily because it restricts his ability to negotiate sanctions concerning Moscow without congressional approval.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev criticised Trump for signing the bill. "The Trump Administration has shown its total weakness by handing over executive power to Congress in the most humiliating way," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that two phone calls Trump spoke publicly about receiving - from the head of the Boy Scouts and the President of Mexico - were not fabricated but instead took place in person.

"The conversations took place," Sanders told reporters. "They just simply didn't take place over a phone call. ... He had them in person."

Both Trump claims of phone calls had been disputed in recent days by the other parties involved.

- AP, Washington Post